Uncharted Territory
by Kitten-Vixen
Summary: Max returns from an errand bruised and in pain and Cindy opts to ease her agony with a simple massage. But is it really that simple, or will her changing feelings towards Max get in the way?


Uncharted Territory

Max stumbled into the grubby apartment, her right leg rigid beneath her and her right eye twitching and grimacing from pain. Blood dripped down her face from a cut over her left temple and her hair was tangled from sweat and water, "I really hate my life," she said as she tried to traverse the length of the living space without aggravating her injuries.

Original Cindy looked up from her magazine, eyes transforming from diamonds to beacons as they widened on taking in her room-mate's horrific state, "you just went down the street for takeout?" she answered, her ass rooted to the threadbare sofa in shock.

"Tell that to the five guys that decided to try and mug this little kid," Max replied, hobbling tentatively towards the bathroom, "the idiot here stepped in to save the day and guess what?" Max gestured to her various injuries, a small tear collecting in the corner of one eye.

"Sounds like I should be giving you props," Cindy said, putting the magazine down with a hollow _slap_ and standing up.

Max gave a pathetic snort, "yeah, but then it turned out that these muggers are precisely who Logan warned me about!" she exclaimed, "they were high on that new drug on the streets that revs up your metabolism. They were like Manticore kids!"

"Woah," Cindy muttered under her breath, "how was the kid?"

"Oh, great!" Max shouted in exasperation, "the guys scattered, leaving me face down in the smelliest gutter I've ever seen and the kid just turned tail! Not so much as a thank you! If I was in better shape, I'd have gone after him and mugged him myself!"

Cindy shook her head, "is it broken?" she asked, gesturing to the leg.

"No, just seized up. I think I landed on something hard. It just needs working out."

"Get yourself cleaned up and I'll massage it," Cindy announced.

Max scrutinised her face, searching for some sign that she was making a joke, "for real?" she asked with a cynical frown. When her room-mate nodded in reply, she was even more confused, "since when have you been able to do massages?"

"Before the pulse I was kicked out of beauty school for fighting," she replied with a proud smile, "this girl thought she was all of that so I took it upon myself to let her know that she wasn't. She was like the Queen Bee or whatever, but damn did she hit the ground hard!"

Max tried to laugh but it only exacerbated the pain in her leg and the bruised ribs she had to match.

"So, what do you think?" Cindy prompted.

"Well, what other option have I got?" Max scoffed, "it's either that or walk around like Long John Silver for the next week!"

Original Cindy tried to take it as a compliment and shooed her friend into the bathroom so that she could get cleaned up. With Max busy beautifying herself, she bustled around the living room trying to clear a space, quickly sweeping away the dust and grime before lying her favourite blanket on the floor. Cindy arranged some cushions and even dug out a stick of her special Ginseng incense to change the aura of the apartment.

"It smells like a Thai brothel out here!" Max exclaimed when she emerged from the bathroom, her hair dripping water across the floor, her leg still exhibiting its limp even though it had eased a little from the hot water - courtesy of their brand new water heater that Logan had arranged.

"Stop busting my grill and lie down!" Cindy exclaimed, her hands on her hips in an indignant pose, "you don't have to turn on the Manticore-butch."

"I'm just not sure about this," she replied with an unsure frown.

"Girl you are knotted tighter than a gang-rope, now lie down and let me try and loosen you the hell up!"

Max was still cringing as she lay down on the cushions, supporting her weight so that Original Cindy could arrange them under her leg to ease the strain. She couldn't help feeling uncomfortable but tried to convince herself that the massage would help, wishing that it was Logan in Cindy's position.

"Comfy?" Cindy asked sarcastically, beginning to peel Max's robe down, hooking it over her arms and revealing the bruised back that looked like a dot-to-dot puzzle, "damn girl, you look like you've been pieced together by Frankenstein, or something!"

"Thanks!" Max exclaimed, "besides, my leg's a lot lower than that."

"Relax chica, a massage must start from the top and work down to be most effective," Cindy replied, cringing at how the white lie escaped so effortlessly.

She tried to place her slender hands on Max's back but had to sit back on her knees for a minute, taking in how miraculous her friend was. When she cast her mind back to when she had found out that dear Max Guevara wasn't all that she seemed, she had to marvel at the science that had created her. Each part of her was cut and spliced from human and feline DNA and the effects were clearly visible. Her shoulder blades slightly protruded from beneath the skin like a tiger and her spine was sinewy, every muscle toned to cope with a vast number of demands. She was far from your average, run-of-the-mill Olympian.

The breath caught in her throat as she forced herself to lean over Max, her thumbs beginning to work at the knots in every muscle. She hadn't dared admit to herself that her feelings towards her room mate were changing, even though Max was admittedly set on Logan Cale. Cindy couldn't help falling for girls with a bad streak - Diamond was proof of that!

Visions of Max's skin-tight black burglar gear flashed into her mind as she straddled the girl beneath her, moving herself to a much better position to work on her back. Cindy desperately tried not to think about exactly where she was hovering and how good it would feel to slip that robe off and massage a few more of her crevices.

_Damn, I thought Max was the one who got heat!_ Original Cindy thought to herself, biting her bottom lip to try and distract her wandering mind. But no matter how hard she tried, her thoughts slipped onto Max's adorable, little-girl smile and how her tangled black curls danced about her face when she moved, every stride and spin executed like a dance that was meant just for Cindy.

Then her mind happened to strip the dream-Max of every garment except a skimpy thong and she knew that her feelings were getting too much.

"You can pull your robe up now, boo," she said in a slightly breathless tone, holding the top of the robe up so that Max could find the arm-holes, "I'll work on your leg now, OK?"

"You can go on all night if you want," Max muttered with a moan of pleasure, "those fingers of yours are magic."

Cindy gulped saliva as she hiked up the bottom part of the robe, revealing Max's athletic thighs. The skin was taut across the tense muscle, almost so much that it could break. The moment her probing fingers touched the tender area, Max let out a pitiful whine, "sorry boo, but you've really done a number on this leg," she said and started rubbing slowly, Max's other leg banging onto the floor as she whimpered like a puppy that was hit by a Hummer.

Cindy hoped that she'd stop because her eyes kept straying to the dark under section of her room mate, the blue robe skimming the bottom of the cheeks and just concealing it from view. The muscles were the most tender at the top, but Cindy didn't dare let her hands stray upwards from the knee. This situation was getting too risky.

Max's muffled whines sounded like her own when she was reaching that beautiful moment of clarity when nothing in the world mattered besides the person clamped between your legs. Cindy's mind just happened to replace the age-old image of Diamond with the teenage transgenic, who surfaced between splayed thighs with a hungry glint in her black eyes, breasts bare and pert as she leaned in to let Cindy take control for a while, their bodies skimming like silk on velvet..

Ever since she had caught a glimpse of Max changing, she had a constant pang that stabbed her gut every time her room mate walked in. The way her back had flexed and stretched as she had taken off her T-shirt, the way her hands reached straight for the catch of her bra without fumbling, and the pink shadow of her breasts as she stood with her back to the door.

That sight had been too much for the lonely lesbian, who had harboured the secret crush silently, enhancing her loneliness. She knew that it was wrong to be crushing on her flat mate - especially her strictly heterosexual flat mate - but she couldn't help wanting to tear Max's clothes off in the flames of passion. She also couldn't help wanting to push her down onto her cotton sheets naked, using her fingers to uncover the depths that Max Guevara kept extremely well hidden. Cindy knew that just one night would be enough to slake her lust, but would it lead to anything more?

"Hey Cee?" Max asked, straining to glance over her shoulder as Cindy continued to work, pausing for a moment to answer her friend, "can you do my back a little more? It just feels so good." The groan that tainted her words did nothing to stop Cindy's pounding heart and itching urges.

Original Cindy heaved a sigh and bit her lip again. This was going to be a very long night.


End file.
